AFTER over two years since the tenth bipartite settlement became due, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the form of minutes was exchanged between the Indian Banks Association (IBA) representing the managements of various banks and the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) representing close to ten lakh bank employees and officers with five workmen unions and four officers unions as its constituents on 23 February 2015 in Mumbai. Two other unions namely NUBE and Karmachari Sena also inked the MoU separately. Consequent to this, the strike call by UFBU for four days from 25 to 28 February 2015 was deferred. The salient features of MoU are: the wage revision will be effective from 1 November 2012, the date it has fallen due; the annual wage increase in salary and allowances will be at the rate of 15 percent which works out to Rs 4,725 crore on pay slip components; the new scales will be constructed after merging Dearness Allowance corresponding to 4440 points of Consumer Price Index which works out to 60.15 percent; every second and fourth Saturday of a month will be holidays and the other Saturdays will be full working days instead of half working days at present; and the full settlement will be signed within 90 days. EXPLOITATIONS GALORE With the implementation of neo-liberal economic policies, bank employees’ salaries, retirement benefits and social security measures have come under severe attack from the international finance capital all over the world. Multinational corporations have taken the route of reduction in salaries and benefits of the working class to maximise their profits. India’s banking industry including public sector banks is no exception. Exploitation of labour has been on the rise in the form of unbearable workload, opening of thousands of bank branches with just one or two staff, reduction of the workforce, unlimited working hours for officers, forcing staff to work on Sundays and Holidays without any compensation, adding enormous responsibilities, exposing staff to security threats, and threat of transfer to mute protests, etc. Despite enormous increase in the profits of banking industry, the share of wages in the total operational expenditure has been reduced. While this huge profit is being siphoned off by the corporate firms through various provisions and writing-off crores of rupees of bad debts. While year after year the operating profit kept on increasing -- from Rs 99,981 crore in 2011 to Rs 1,16,335 crore in 2012, Rs 1,21,838 crore in 2013 and Rs 1,27,633 crore in 2014, the provisions and written-off amount also kept on swelling from Rs 55,080 crore in 2011 to Rs 66,823 crore in 2012, Rs 71,256 crore in 2013 and Rs 90,626 crore in 2014, with no stringent and effective law to recover bad loans. During the past five years, banks have written off bad loans to the tune of Rs 1.61 lakh crore. Written-off loans have become a convenient way of transferring wealth from the society to the corporate houses. Keeping this situation in view, the Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) prepared its charter of demands for improved work conditions and played a vital role in finalisation of the common charter of demands. COMMON CHARTER OF DEMANDS The common charter of demands was submitted on October 30, 2012, demanding increase of wage by 35 percent, five-day a week banking, restricted working hours for officers, revision in pension scheme, scrapping of new pension scheme, and improvement in medical facilities, etc. There was enough justification for these demands as during the earlier settlement period, the business volume has increased by two-and-a-half times, there was substantial increase in per capita business and profit, steep price rise reducing the real wages, and while 18,000 more branches were opened, 18,000 workmen were reduced in absolute numbers, etc. The ratio of wages to total expenses too has come down from 14.66 percent in March 2008 to 13.72 percent in 2012. But the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) did not make any offer of wage increase for one full year up to November 2013. Rather “there is no case for wage revision” was the refrain of the IBA placing certain illogical arguments like lesser net profit, need for more capital to fulfil BASEL III norms, etc. On the other hand, IBA was pressing its own agendas like cost to company, variable pay, power to transfer workmen anywhere in the state, power to prematurely retire workmen, power to take disciplinary action even after retirement, etc. Only when there was a call for a strike by the UFBU, things started moving and IBA made a paltry offer of five percent increase in the total pay slip component of Rs 31,503 crore. Rejecting this offer, the UFBU struck work on 18 December 2013 paralysing the banking operations throughout the country. Again when the UFBU gave a strike call in January 2014, the offer was improved to 9.5 percent, then slowly to 10 percent. Rejecting this too, the UFBU went on two days’ strike on 10 and 11 February 2014. On the eve of the strike, an informal offer of 11 percent was made by IBA. Then there was the Lok Sabha election. The BJP-led NDA government that came to power at the Centre was equally anti-employees as the UPA-II government. The offer of wage rise was not improved by the IBA, despite several rounds of discussions and submission of the memorandum to the finance minister. Thus, the bank staffers were forced to strike work on 12 November and relay regional strike for four days from 2 to 5 December 2014. Again a day’s strike call on 7 January 2015 and four days’ strike call from 21 to 24 January, followed by indefinite strike call from 16 March 2015 were given. MOU SIGNED The impact of the earlier strikes and the serious preparation for a series of strikes only made the IBA increase the offer from 11 percent to 12.5 percent of the pay slip component. With this offer and promise of further substantial offer, the strike calls were deferred. Again there was a stalemate. Finally the strike call of four days from 25 to 28 February, followed by the indefinite strike from 16 March, 2015 onwards brought some seriousness to the government at the Centre and the IBA. The offer was improved to 15 percent. Five days banking was partly considered by accepting 2nd and 4th Saturdays as holidays and thus the MoU was clinched as explained above. It is a significant achievement of the bank unions to have reduced the number of total working hours for the clerical employees as 24 Saturdays in a year will be Holidays. MILITANCY OF WORKFORCE The Tenth Bipartite Settlement could reach this stage with a memorandum of understanding only because of the united struggle of the ten lakhs bank employees and officers throughout the country with a deep sense of dedication and commitment. Totally five days’ strike was observed, besides many protest actions like demonstrations and dharnas. The workforce could fetch every bit of increase in the wage revision only when they stopped work and were seriously preparing for further strike. Both the previous Congress-led UPA-II government and the present BJP-led NDA government were totally negative as far as fair wage revision for bank staff was concerned. This fairly good increase of 15 percent in pay slip component was virtually snatched from the unwilling hands of the IBA and the government combine due to the militant struggle and the organisational discipline in carrying out the calls of the UFBU by the entire bank staff all over the country. The solidarity strike observed by the Gramin Bank employees under the banner of the AIRRBEA whenever the commercial bank employees went on strike and the solidarity strike calls by NABARD employees, RBI class III and class IV employees on 25 February 2015 and the entire workforce of Gramin Bank – four workmen’s and three officers’ organisations -- for all the four days from 25 to 28 February played a vital role in settling this issue at this stage. The support of the CITU and other Left organisations have also greatly helped clinch the MoU. The support of the public, bank customers and the media for their just struggle was also significant to signing of the MoU. This MoU in the commercial banks assumes significance as the settlement in RBI/NABARD/Insurance depends on this. The employees and officers of Regional Rural Banks will be extended the benefit of the tenth bipartite settlement that would be signed following this MoU, as has been legally mandated. While one may hope that there would be a smooth settlement including the other issues of the employees and the officers, the workforce may have to remain vigilant as hurdles may be created in the path of the settlement in the form of management issues. The unity of the employees and the officers has to be preserved not only to achieve a reasonable settlement without any anti-employees’ issues but also to defeat the nefarious designs of the government to privatise public sector banks, regional rural banks and weaken cooperative institutions, RBI and NABARD.